Blogging: The Highs & Lows

Real talk. These last few weeks have been a blogging rollercoaster, full of great highs and some recent crazy/random/unexpected lows. I’ll start this post out by saying, there is nothing I would rather do than blog. I am built for it, it fuels my creative soul, and I’ll be right here blogging away until I physically can’t do it anymore (aka zombie apocalypse.) With that being said, these last few weeks have been extremely challenging with new obstacles and frustrations. I wanted to pull back the curtain and share what’s going on behind the scenes here at Champagne and Paper Planes and talk about what has been particularly challenging for me these last few weeks.

Blogging is equal parts exciting, frustrating, and the most wonderful thing I have ever done. The highs absolutely outweigh the lows but that doesn’t mean the lows aren’t insignificant or won’t cause you to temporarily derail. I am the sole creator, editor, writer, WordPress plug-in fixer, CSS adder, attempt-at-coding-er. Basically, I do everything myself (for better or worse) and whatever the blog needed, I somehow managed to figure it out. Until last week when I updated my WordPress to activate Gutenberg and my whole world turned upside-down.

Gutenberg was the straw that broke the camel’s back after a long daily string of blog roadblocks. In the past few weeks I’ve had computer issues, storage issues, backup issues, SEO issues, Lightroom/preset issues, theme issues, social plug-in issues .. and the list goes on. The worst part is that I couldn’t put them off and every urgent time-consuming blogging to-do came in waves, one after the other. I was truly living the metaphor ‘when it rains, it pours’. I think the most frustrating part was that before the roadblocks my blog was on a roll, with a consistent content flowing and I felt like the sky was the limit. Then bit by bit, issues rolled into large, unmanageable problems and the blog train came to a screeching stop. I haven’t had any blog issues for months, then all of a sudden I was overwhelmed by seemingly catastrophic website issues.

The reason why I want to share and vent with you is for a few reasons, one being an explanation of paused content. I’ve been on my blog every day working on all the backend WordPress stuff and it kills me that I have’t been able to post in few weeks! The second reason is because some of you might have a blog or want to start a blog and I think it’s important to keep it real. Running a blog as a solo-entrepreneur is fun but also tough and often times turns into a sink or swim situation where you have to be able to ride out the highs and the lows. Any blogging readers who can relate to these frustrations and mishaps?!

Now, being a few days after my Gutenberg meltdown (yes, tears were shed), I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have so many awesome things coming to the blog and my outlook on the roadblocks have changed. The remaining blog issues are out of my control and I can’t let a pending Gutenberg compatible plug-in update stop me from moving forward. Have you noticed the ‘Pin it’ button on this post covers the entire image in a big red box when scrolled over? It’s a plug-in developer issue and I can’t do anything about it, so my philosophy now is that I have to let those things go because it’s out of my control. Keep calm and blog on!

On a lighter note, I have some exciting blog updates. I am now a dietetic internship preceptor (!!!) and will be taking interns from a local Phoenix dietetic internship in the Spring of 2019. If you are a future intern reading this, hello! I am also now moving towards the expanding and fine-tuning phase of my site. I have hired my first blog consultant to look into my website structure, something I have no idea how to do and is worth the investment. It’s a little scary hiring outside help for my site but I think it is something my website needs and will be totally worth it. I am also so excited about Fall and have some fun recipes coming – stay tuned!

If you made it all the way down to the end of this post, thank you! It feels so good to go through and explain everything that has been going on. The blog (and let’s be real – also my emotions) is on the mend and I can’t wait for what’s next. Gutenberg and all.

You Might Also Like:

*Some products linked on this page are affiliate links. I receive a small commission if you purchase any items through my site. This in no way influences the items I recommend or raises the price of the items for you. Affiliate links are the primary way I make an income from my website (notice I don’t have any ads?) and I appreciate your purchases & support!